Ten 2018 Releases You Should Read This Fall

2018 has already been a great year for books, and we still have three months left. I haven’t read all of the new releases I wanted to this year, but I have read a fair number of them, and have definitely discovered some new favorites. I looked back through the 2018 releases I’ve read so far this year, and discovered that a full ten of them would make brilliant fall reads. The books below are a mix of my favorite things to read in fall: dark, mysterious, and historical. Here are the 2018 releases I think you should read this fall:

Freshwaterby Akwaeke Emezi. Freshwater is not a book I think everyone will love, but I did. It’s easily one of the most impactful books I’ve read, and I am still thinking about it eight months later. It’s about a woman with a fractured self learning to deal with all aspects of her personality. It’s something I think a lot of people can identify with to some extent, and it’s really just a beautiful book.

Circeby Madeline Miller. Most of you have probably already heard of Circe. But if you haven’t yet read it, now’s your chance. I don’t even have words to describe how incredible Madeline Miller’s writing is. Both of her novels have blown me away. Circe is just so absolutely brilliant, and I loved it. If you like mythology, this is a must-read.

Educatedby Tara Westover. It’s hard to think of Educated without making a comparison to The Glass Castle. The memoirs are similar, but the stories are very different. Westover grew up with parents who did not trust the government or education. This book is about her childhood and her journey that eventually led to getting a PhD. I loved this book, and think it would make a great nonfiction fall read.

The Darkling Brideby Laura Anderson. I will eventually stop talking about this book, but now is not that time. This is a really fun dark novel that is half contemporary mystery and half historical fiction. It’s about a family trying to figure out several mysteries in their past, and it is so good! I had low expectations for this book, but I ended up really loving it. I’m a bit sad I read this in March, because I think it would make the PERFECT rainy day fall read. I might read it again already.

Too Close to Breatheby Olivia Kiernan. For someone who watches a decent amount of detective shows, I don’t read that many detective novels, but I’m glad I gave this one a chance. It was so interesting and well-done, and I loved how the main character was connected to the rest of the story. I don’t want to give away too much, but I will say I’m planning on reading the next book, which is kind of a big deal for me.

I’ll Be Gone in the Dark by Michelle McNamara. If you want a book that involves a serial killer that isn’t fiction, this is the book for you. It’s about the quest to catch the Golden State Killer, and ultimately actually led to his capture, which is great. If, like me, you love watching documentaries about murderers, you should definitely read this one.

The Romanov Empress by C. W. Gortner. This is the novelization of the life of Maria Feodorovna, the mother of Tsar Nicholas II. I’ve studied a decent amount of Russian history, but she’s a figure that was relatively unknown to me. And I loved her. I thought this book was really well-done, and I loved that it read like a traditional historical fiction novel, but told a true story. If you like historical fiction, this is a great one.

Spinning Silverby Naomi Novik. Okay, maybe this is more of a winter book, but I’ve been preparing for fall for months, so it’s never too early to read a wintry book. Right? Rumplestiltskin is one of my favorite fairy tales, and I loved this retelling. It was interesting and dark, but much more cold and mysterious than scary. Actually, if you’re not too into scary books or books about murder, but want to read something dark for fall, this one would be a great pick!

The 7 ½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton. If you are into murder-y books, this book has plenty of them. This was hard to put down because I needed to know what happened, and everything was so fast-paced and exciting. Also, I needed to know who the murderer is. Just wonderfully dark and intriguing.

The Impossible Girlby Lydia Kang. Speaking of dark, this one is about a girl with two hearts who works as a ressurectionist, digging up cadavers. Until someone starts looking for interesting corpses, including the two-hearted girl. This book blew me away. I loved the story and the characters and the setting. It’s one of those books I think should be getting more attention than it is, so you should all go read it. (Unless you’re squeamish, then maybe this isn’t for you.)

That’s it for this list! I was actually surprised I was able to come up with ten books, but that just goes to show how many great books we’ve already gotten this year. (I’m sure if I’d had a chance to read Vengeful already – it just came out yesterday – it would be on this list, too.)